The saturday of CRAZY!

Farmstock!

Ya know…I really hope I'm spelling that right. I honestly have no idea…

So today was basically a day offish. I woke up and did chores, but then was set to work washing gourds. (?) I had a bowl. I had a sponge. I had soap.

This was not what i expected when coming to work on a farm! hah. But i did enjoy it.

So, the reason for the prettifying was that we were making a display, hoping people would see it and then want to buy the gourds. I'm not sure it worked or not. But regardless, I spent all morning cleaning the DIRT-RIDDEN squash.

Everyone else was rushing around setting other things up and bringing out instruments. The atmosphere was pretty loose and excited.

Jen's parents came back with their two dogs, Katie and Leo. They had gone home for a day to make sure their house was hurricane-ready.

Around 12:30 people started to arrive, and so we began giving tours. Someone from the local paper came to check it out, and other various folk. Young and old came to see what Channery Hill Farm really has to offer. Of course, Sebastian was in heaven since there were plenty of other kids to play with, and Jen's mom, who was once a science teacher, i believe, brought all the kids up to the pond and collected some pond water for them to observe and experiment with.

I also got to meet Jimmy's girlfriend, Amanda. She's extremely nice! She even brought presents for Sebastian: lighting McQueen crocs, which were probably the most awesome crocs I've ever seen, and also a cars travel cup. He was very excited to say the least.

I gave a tour to an older couple, who couldn't walk as far, so I just showed them around the barn and the greenhouse. I told them ahead of time that I wasn't the best tour guide since I had only been there a week–but they didn't seem to mind. Just asked how I ended up here.

But as I gave them the tour I realized how much I've actually learned in just a short week. It's astounding! And it isn't like school where I'll learn it and then promptly forget 95% of it, I retain 95% of it now, and once I've got it I don't think I'll forget it because I'm actually DOING things. I'm working with what I'm learning and that makes all the difference.

After the tours were all done and people were just milling around, I got kind of… overwhelmed. There were so many people all doing their own thing and you must remember, for the past week the most people I'd been with is… 5-Jen, Kai, Sebastian, Jimmy, Katie. And I was also having trouble with the fact that Jimmy was leaving. I didn't understand the full impact it would have on working here yet, but I did not it would be different. And I didn't want different, because the way it was was perfect.

Anyway, I had to go sit alone for awhile–let myself breathe and everything.

But I soon decided that it would be better to immerse myself in the hecticness and that is when the gifts were bestowed upon the child and excitement ensued.

I also met Acadia who lives across the valley at Apple Pond farm. She's working on a land project and is hoping to make good, organic food to give to schools. It's pretty awesome, actually. But anyway, her truck broke down, so after everyone had left it started pouring rain and her mechanic still hadn't arrived so she stayed and chatted for awhile, and three things happened at once:

her mechanic arrived

I was told I should move my car since it was currently parked on a downhill slope

Jimmy was packed and ready to leave

So I moved my car and when I hit the brakes, they made the horrible screeching noise that made everyone look up and stare at me…

uh. crap.

But I did repark, and the brakes worked fine! They just made horrendous noises…

I said bye to Jimmy as the rain began to start up again, and then went to ask Acadia's mechanic about my brakes.

He said it was just rust since Ruby had just been sitting there for a week and it had rained during that week.

Or Ruby, she's so spoiled with her garage and all! Not used to weather!

But apparently, if I drove her, the noise would go away after a couple miles.

And that was basically the end of the day. We had dinner–the grandparents, Jen, Kai, Sebastian, and I–and talked about the impending storm.

Then went to bed, knowing when we woke up that a storm could be raging outside.

Here's another cute picture, because I have very few pictures this week.